Brian McDermott has been sacked by Reading following a string of bad results.

The Royals find themselves joint-bottom of the Premier League and have lost their last four games, their most recent coming at the hands of fellow strugglers Aston Villa 2-1 on Saturday at the Madejski Stadium.

A statement from the club's official website said: "Reading Football Club has announced today the departure of manager Brian McDermott. Owner Anton Zingarevich wishes to place on record his thanks to Brian who had achieved great success with the club since taking over as manager in December 2009.

"Brian gained promotion to the Barclays Premier League last year for only the second time in the club's history thanks to a remarkable run at the end of last season. However, in our current situation, owner Anton Zingarevich felt that a change was necessary.

"The search for a successor will start immediately and it is hoped that a new manager will be in place as soon as possible to lead the fight against potential relegation."

Reading have won only five of their 29 Premier League games, and even at this late stage of the season the club feel a change was required to turn their fortunes around.

McDermott was appointed manager four years ago having been a chief scout, Under-19s and reserve team boss, before being a caretaker manager after the departure of Brendan Rogers.

McDermott guided Reading to promotion to the Premier League last season after the Royals had romped their way to the Championship, and was a popular figure at the club.